So I noticed that no one has posted in 6 months!! Hello Ellis family! How is everyone out there? Are people posting elsewhere and not telling me about it? Just missing you all I guess.

So rather than just post a big echoing hello? Where are you? I guess I will throw in my two cents. We moved to Round Rock in August! Jhonny is working at Gattis Elem still in kindergarten. The girls are going to school with him, Gavin is in daycare, and I'm 3.4 miles from work. Oh yeah and due May 29th with #4. Praying it will stick to the end and be healthy this time - because this is the LAST time.

Lifting Burdens: The Atonement of Jesus Christ

What a beautiful reminder of the gift of the Atonement. Through our Heavenly Father and Savior we can find the peace of God that surpasses all of our earthly understanding. He can, and WILL make us whole and complete. What a blessing that is to me in my life, and I hope anyone reading this can feel of His love through this message.

This is Nate and I a few minutes before he met my parents on Skype last Sunday. We are getting married Saturday March 26th in the SLC temple. There will be a reception/open house that night from 6:00-8:00.

You all are welcome to come to the reception. Here is a blog I set up. It's pretty boring right now, but I will make it look cooler when I have more time. http://www.maeserelliswedding.blogspot.com I am not sure I will get around to sending out invitations to everyone. I am planning on sending them to dad's brothers and sisters. Hopefully the computer savvy generation will be be ok with this invitation. Throwing a wedding together last minute is a breeze... especially when working full time and taking classes.

Here is the chapel address for the reception:
1950 South 1200 East
Salt Lake City, UT

Since we are moving overseas, please don't worry about gifts. Just come, say hello, have a meat ball and some cheese cake.

Directions: I80 heading East from I15, exit 1300 East, left on 2100 South, right on 1200 East, building is on the left. You may miss it at first because it is an old building. There is parking behind the church.

Making Memories for Christmas 2010

The family in the snow

We're not twins, we're COUSINS!!

Burying Jhonny

Gavin's snowman

Gavin, Lily and Madi eating snow

The Three Musketeers!

Ice nativity

Gavin and Grandpa and the tonka truck.

Christmas 2010

Ellis Family Picture card

Classic Without Edge Party 5x7 folded card

Unique party invitations and greeting cards by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Our Ellis Missionaries

I just got this picture from Devin...taken Nov 1st while he and Tarry were in the MTC together. I think it's so cute of them!

Update on the Marcano Clan

So the semester is FLYING by. It seems like just yesterday it was Aug 1 and I was starting my new job as a counselor at Round Rock High School. There is so much to do - it feels like a marathon that I'm trying to keep up with.
Jessica is in 3rd grade at Great Oaks Elem and making some great new friends there. She especially enjoys the two hours of lone time with mom during our hour commute to and from Round Rock each day. She also enjoys being in the after school care with the YMCA and getting to play with her classmates after school.
Lily is in Pre-K and proving to be just as smart as we always suspected. Her vocabulary continues to amaze me. The other day she was complaining about something and said, "Mom, it's off the hook!" Where does she get that? Her Pre-K teacher commented that she picks up on things even the teachers seem to miss. On one assignment she was to color the like leaves the same color. It meant on the row. She found one on the top and bottom that were the same even though one was turned at a different angle. The teacher asked her what she was doing and she said, "Aren't we supposed to color the same leaves the same color?" The teacher took a closer look and noticed she was right. Lily enjoys staying after school while her daddy works to do "homework". The homework is usually a worksheet his kindergarten kids have done that day. She loves it and wants to do anything Jessica is doing.
Gavin started in daycare this fall. They were wrapping up potty training when he got there, but he tried it and is doing pretty well for a young 2 yr old boy. I'm fairly impressed. He even went a couple of days with underwear with no accidents!! Way to go Gavin. He is so cute and such a sweet heart. He is speaking more and more each day. I think the structure of the day care is really good for him. He loves to sing to us and bobs his little head in time to the music. Lately his favorite songs have been "Happy Family", "Old McDonald had a farm", and "5 little monkeys".
Jhonny just got accepted into a Masters of Ed program through UTA. He starts next week as a probationary student pending his GRE exam. He is loving his job as a Kindergarten teacher. His first graders (Kindergarten from last year) are showing up the whole school! They scored the highest on the TPRI test than any other 1st grade class and I believe they did better than any class has ever scored. Everyone of his kids from last year was "developed" in all areas. He didn't even know what all the congrats were for when the Principal and other teachers stopped by to tell him. The challenge now is to get his class now up to par. The first grade teacher of his bilingual group is stopping by frequently to tell him to stop doing this or that - i.e. He contacted DeVry University where he graduated and the recruiter sends him shirts for all his kids. DeVry sent him some new ones for this year. The first graders wanted to know when their new teacher would get them a shirt this year. LOL.
The latest news is that we're listing our house. We hope that it will sell by next summer, but we shall see. The hope is that some day we can move everyone to Round Rock so we can have more family time. And maybe my kids besides just Jessica can see their mom more than just on the weekends.
The last news is that we're planning a trip to Idaho for Christmas. We would love to see family - and especially spend a little time with Grandma and Grandpa Ellis. I hope it will be a white Christmas for a kids. They don't get too much of that. Maybe we'll get to see some of ya'll up there this year. I may not have another chance to post again for a while. So! Until then!!

Grandma and Grandpa Ellis

I was trying to update my blog a little tonight and ran across these pictures I asked my dad to take of Grandma and Grandpa Ellis. This was at the Mt. Timpanogas Temple on Aug 12th, 2010 just after Devin received his endowments. I thought they were cute :)

Does it ever feel like......

you are talking to yourself??? I've been checking this blog and trying to add every once in awhile (really should update my OWN family blog...lol!) and I think i"m the only one here. Anyone out there??? Let's add some stuff and COMMENTS people!!!! Love you all! Miss you all! Hope all is well for you.

Our family is in the full swing of school days! The girls went to 3 whole days last week and survived! Devin is working working and trying to save the last minute money for his mission! He has enjoyed going to the temple, and has been to 5 different temples already in the last 2 1/2 weeks.

Well...the cookies n cream (or should I go for peppermint chocolate chip) ice cream is calling my name. I wish it would stop. It's our Sunday Sundae treat...we try not to eat it any other day. Gotta enjoy at least one day a week, right?????

Devin's Farewell

I thought I'd let you all know that Devin's Farewell will be on Sunday, Sept 26th at 9am here in Lehi. If you'd like to come down (or up), please let us know. We'll have some sort of brunch or lunch afterwards. We have a couple of extra beds...and if those are full----plenty of floor space if you don't mind that.



Devin also went to the temple yesterday and took out his endowments on his birthday. It was a quickly decided thing...so we didn't tell anyone really...sorry!! We realized Gma and Gpa Ellis were leaving town...and we tried to coordinate 3 work schedules FAST....but we got it done! What a great experience!!! We are so proud of Devin! He is looking forward to getting to Seattle

i

Yours and Mine Poem

Hey everyone I need some help finding the poem, "Yours and Mine" author Unkown. It's a poem about a family that has lost a child. It starts off about how the lord looked down on a couple and thought that they would make great parents to a little spirit of His. It then goes on to talk about the boy growing up and then about the early passing of the boy and how the Lord reminds them that that spirit was his and theirs. Ranley's cousin lost her little 5yr. old boy friday, and that poem seems to always bring some comfort to those who read it. It use to be on my parents old computer but it crashed and I can't find a hard copy anywhere. If any of you have a copy of it or know where one is I would appreciate you letting me know. I've searched for it and can't find it anywhere. Thanks again Bon

A million Ellis' slipping & sliding

More reunion fun!

The Ellis' are Growing

I'll post more pictures of the reunion soon...but here are all the new babies from the last year. Starting at the bottom and going clockwise---Lance Marquez, Paylor Egbert, Raegan Sears, Jacob Green, Paige Koyle, Tristen Ellis, Aliza Haney. Let me know if I misspelled anyone's name!
You all know how much I hate to misspell people's names :)


Here they all are with their mommies! Glad they were all wearing the same outfit as in the above picture as that helps identify them all! Do you know how confusing it was for you to change their outfits each day? Front row: Bonnie & Paige, Leejean and her book on Zeke, Ashurity & "the one still cooking". Back row: Cheary & Aliza, Aspen & Paylor, Akeey & Tristen, Stephanie & Jacob, Natalie & Raegan, Janet & Lance.


I thought this picture was too cute of the cousins Leejean & Ashurity.



What a FUN reunion! Thanks Sears family for hosting! More pics to come!

Baptism Day

Last week, Jessica was baptized and confirmed. It was a beautiful day for the Marcano family. We had friends and family come from Houston, Louisiana, and Dallas for the event. I survived feeding a couple of dozen people at my home afterwards before everyone headed home. Jessica reports that it was the "best day ever!"

Walla Walla Sweets

Hey everyone!  WE will be at the reunion this year.  Yeah!  If anyone would like some walla walla sweet onions, let me know and I will bring them with us.  they are $10 for a 25lb bag of the large ones and $15 for a 25 lb bag of the jumbo ones!!!!  These are THE BEST onions ever! My kids will even eat just the onion when we grill it.  Anyway, let me know asap and I will bring the mto the reunion~

Blessings

Wes has been looking for a different job for over a year. He has turned in countless applications/resumes with no response except a few post cards saying they appreciate the interest but have filled the position and will keep his information on file for 6 months. Every night he spent numerous hours on the computer looking at job openings and would ask me if he should apply for this or that job. My response was frequently the same, "Go for it, the worst thing they could do is not call you." So, since the most recent paycut he has had even more time to spend looking for a job. He has talked to people at Job Service as well as getting help with his resume at the LDS Employment center. He casually would talk to members of the credit union about their jobs, how they liked them... and if they had any openings. Last week he had a phone interview with a company he was referred to by a credit union member. He had a follow up interview on Wednesday and they told him to expect to hear back from them by the end of next week since the CEO was out of the office this week. On that same day he got a phone call for an interview with the local school district for the following day. He explained to them that he would love to come to an interview but his time constraint would be doing so during his lunch break and he works on the other side of town. They said no problem we can do it in that time. He was about 5 minutes late getting back to work from that interview and thankfully no one said anything about his tardiness. They have told him in the past that if he was ever late it could be reason for termination. This morning he got a phone call from the school district. They left a message to call them back a long with the office phone number and a cell phone number. Being optimistic we both felt this had to be good news due to the fact that I have gotten phone messages telling me they have chosen someone else. Wes came home for lunch to pick up some papers he forgot this morning. He called the district back while standing in the driveway and I was able to watch him literally jump for joy when they offered and he accepted a position to work in the district office. We have been praying for guidance for so long and are truly grateful that the interview were this week and he was able to leave the credit union during his lunch break. Normally he is not allowed to leave the building in case they get busy and need him to cut his break short.

Family Reunion 2010

Hey guys it's that time of year again! Mark your calendars for July 23-25. Thanks to Merilee and Harold who have been so gracious to offer the use of their farm house again this year. Here's a run down of things we have planned:

FOOD SCHEDULE

FRIDAY

Lunch- on your own

Dinner- Merilee and Harold Waters Family

SATURDAY

Breakfast- Kim's & Randy's Families

Lunch- Kevin's Family

Dinner- Lanett and Our Family

Dessert Bar- Everybody bring a dessert to share

SUNDAY

Breakfast- Grandma and Grandpa and Garrin's Family

* All paper products and silverware and drinks will be provided by the our family.*

ACTIVITIES

Floating the Canal, Volleyball, relay races, 4 wheeling (for those who want to bring them),

fishing, slip'n'slide, relay races, *family pictures, humanitarian project, and tons of visiting

*Ashley is going to take Family Pictures for us on Saturday, one Big Ellis Family Group Picture and Individual Family pictures. She has a shirt color assigned for each family. You don't have to wear a solid colored shirt, just as long as your color is in it. ( I hope that makes sense ) The Cost will be $10 for the Individual Families and no charge for the Big Ellis Family Group Picture.

SATURDAY NIGHT ACTIVITIES

FAMILY AUCTION

This year instead of family dues we are going to have an Auction. Were keeping it pretty low cost but any extra made will get passed to Lanett for next year's reunion. For the Auction item it can be anything (i.e. homemade foods and crafts, acts of services, anything you want to give away). You also need to put a starting bid on your item, to make sure that whatever money you put in to it you get out of it.

CAMPFIRE PROGRAM

We will be having a Campfire program Saturday Night after the auction. Each main family will need to have one Pioneer story to share. (i.e. Randy's family-one story)

I hope to see all of you there!!! If you have any questions e-mail me at sears_horses@yahoo.com

Cauliflower Pizza???

A friend of mine just posted a link to this recipe on Facebook. It sounds like it could be delicious. I'm thinking of making the breadstick recipe later this week or even trying the pizza. I thought it would be good topped with some grilled veggies - peppers, onions.....garlic....

Anyway - thought I'd pass it along since they looked like semi-healthy recipes. I think you could even try adding egg beaters instead of egg, and using the part skim mozerella cheese. And if you did make it into pizza you'd want to be careful how much more cheese you added to it - to keep the fat content down enough. I'll let you know if I end up trying it. My friend who made it said that it was pretty good and she couldn't even taste the cauliflower. She said she hates cauliflower and the pizza was still pretty good.

http://denver.yourhub.com/Longmont/Blogs/Archive/Blog~435499.aspx

Wild Idea

Ok fam! Aunt Tammy has this idea that she got from her daughter in law, Kori, this past month. We don't always post on the Ellis sight, me especially, but if all of us try just a little harder this year, we could publish a book for Grandpa and Grandma Ellis for Christmas this year! Actually, I think Stef has something in mind and we could do the book for next year! I am starting it with my own blog but Kori's turned out so awesome, I thought this would be good for Grandpa and Grandma. Let me know what all of you think.

Chalice, glad to hear things are looking up. I was wondering about you with your family's jobs and being Relief Society president. Stef thanks for your updates and it was sooooooo fun to run into Shawnee last Saturday! I loved it!



A thought for all of us today--
When God makes a promise to you, He has every intention of fulfilling it.

New Moms and update

Wow...we seem to have a whole bunch of new moms! Bonnie and Natalie both had their babies this last week within a few hours of each other....let's see Bonnie's is Paige Margo, and Natalie's is Reagan....not sure if I spelled any of them right. I hear that Aspen had her baby this morning and named her Taylor. That's Girls 3 Boys 0. congrats to the new moms!

We have been keeping busy around here! I don't write often because I feel like there isn't anything newsworthy---but that really isn't the intention of our blog..it's to keep in touch!! So...let's see...an update on US...even if it IS boring...some of you haven't seen us in awhile and it may be new news to you . lol. !!! Garrin is hard at work at the shop which is going really well. We hired our first employee 4 months ago and that's been going well. He's been really busy except last week for some reason. I've been working at my job.....not loving it lately...but it's getting better. Still doing the books for the shop and trying to keep up with the kids.

Shawnee made the Ballroom dance team for next year and will be a senior! She's so excited! She is having her performance from Ballroom class next weekend. She has been so so so busy and has been really stressed about school this year. She'll be taking 2 classes in packets this summer to free up some time next year so it won't be so stressful. Kaylee will also be doing a couple of packets to free up her schedule. We hardly see Shawnee between early morning Ballroom class, school, work, Youth Conference committee, YCL for Camp, Laurel president...and the occasional friend or two. Kaylee just finished up track---running the 400 and the 4x400 relay. She did great. She loves all the drama classes (like her cousin chalice) and we just went to her drama performance of scenes from Shakepeare. She's a go-er too. Jaycee just did Hope of America..which was made up of 5th graders from schools all over the area. We met at BYU at the Marriott center and they made up an American flag with their shirt colors and sang patriotic songs. It was cool. She is growing up fast. Devin is home and has been going to UVU for the past year. He is relieved that school is over for now and is starting full time work tomorrow. He continues to date Kiera and is also always on the go.

So that is us in a nutshell. Not exciting...but at least you know what we're up to these days. One of these days I'll have something exciting to share. (i hope) If not---you'll just keep getting these boring updates. lol Anyone else have updates? Boring or not!